In a development that may mark a turning point in their legal dispute, the Internet Archive and a consortium of prominent book publishers have jointly informed a Manhattan federal court about their progress in resolving key aspects of their ongoing conflict concerning the Archive’s digital lending of scanned books, Reuters reported.

Pending acceptance, a consent judgment is poised to address several critical matters in the case, encompassing potential financial compensation and the extent of restrictions on the Archive’s lending practices. Importantly, the consent judgment holds the potential to pave the way for an appeal in response to U.S. District Judge John Koeltl’s previous ruling, which found that the Archive had infringed upon the publishers’ copyrights.

Under the proposed terms, the Archive would be obligated to make an undisclosed monetary payment to entities such as Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Book Group, News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Bertelsmann SE & Co’s Penguin Random House if the Archive’s appeal proves unsuccessful.

Additionally, the consent judgment would establish a permanent injunction preventing the Archive from lending copies of the publishers’ books without explicit permission while the appeal is pending. However, a point of contention remains as the parties urge Judge Koeltl to clarify whether this injunction exclusively pertains to books already available for electronic licensing or extends to books commercially accessible in any format.

Addressing the developments, the Internet Archive acknowledged that the battle is far from resolved, asserting in a blog post that they remain committed to the cause of strong libraries. Brewster Kahle, the founder of the Archive, emphasized that the decision to appeal was driven by the necessity of pr